carrot-and-stick

adjective

car·​rot-and-stick ˌker-ət-ᵊn-ˈstik 

ˌka-rət-

: characterized by the use of both reward and punishment to induce cooperation

carrot-and-stick foreign policy

the carrot-and-stick style of sales management

Examples of carrot-and-stick in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Rubio leaned into the stick side of the carrot-and-stick approach to Cuba on Tuesday, dashing hopes from the Cuban government that a new move to modernize could spare it from further crushing sanctions. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 23 June 2026

The city fixed more than 1,200 areas of sidewalk during the fiscal year that ended last June — triple the previous high from fiscal 2021 — thanks to a carrot-and-stick campaign launched in 2023. — David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2026

Experts say California could prove a testing ground for a carrot-and-stick approach to preventing the collapse of insurance markets as growing wildfires, hurricanes and other climate disasters shake up the industry in other states. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2026

The more senior boss, who went by the name Da Hai, spelled out the carrot-and-stick approach more clearly. — Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 27 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

from the traditional alternatives of driving a donkey on by either holding out a carrot or whipping it with a stick

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for carrot-and-stick

• andesitic
• anthelmintic
• dizygotic
• impolitic
• lymphocytic
• martensitic
• phagocytic
• pharisaic
• realpolitik
• rhyolitic
• visigothic
• actinic